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Austin's LPTV Digital Transition

K

KMRD

Thought I'd start a new thread regarding the status of Austin's LPTV stations' transition to digital.

Here's the status of the LPTVs as of 12/30/11 per the FCC database:

KCWX - CP for digital ch. 8
KQUX - CP for digital ch. 11
KVAT - Lic. on digital ch. 17 (CP for digital ch. 14)
KGBS - CP for digital ch. 19
KADF - CP for digital ch. 20
KXLK - app. for digital ch. 23
KTXU - CP for digital ch. 24
K29HW - Lic. on digital ch. 29
K34FM - CP for digital ch. 34
KBVO - Lic. on digital 51

Total of 10 LD / CA's for Austin proper.

Any updates or corrections welcome.
 
I can't pickup KBVO 51 down near Slaughter & Manchaca.
I'm picking up all the Austin locals including Univision's main signal in Bertram and their in-town digital repeater.
Is the 51 signal as good as it's going to get?
 
It's as good as its gonna get, Fred. I keep screaming at an engineer friend of mine down at KXAN that they need to put KBVO's programming on 36.2 or 54.2, but apparently that's a call made by LIN corporate.

Until then, if you want to see KBVO (and are more than 100 feet from their stick), you need either Time Warner, Dish or DirecTV.
 
I wonder what is preventing KBVO-CD from increasing their power. Also does KBVO-CD map to 51.1 or 14.1?
 
isn't there a freeze on ch 51's hftv upgrades. i believe the fcc is trying to give ch 51's away to the wireless companies. why don't lin move kbvo from llano to round mountain (about 30 milies from llano) which is 37 or so miles from austin. llano is 66 miles from austin.
 
fredcantu said:
I get KBVO on directv, but it's the principal of the thing. I want to pick it up off the air.
Click to expand...

What's interesting about KBVO-CD on 51 is that their 75 watts of ERP is produced with 5 watts of transmitter output power. The antenna gain of 14.02 dB accounts for the increase.

Realizing it's not an apples to apples comparison, but I consider a 75 watt light bulb to rather weak for reading. Yet that's what KBVO's channel 51 facility produces in the strongest lobe of their directional pattern. Toward the null in the south, it's 35 watts -- about the power of the little bulb in my fridge.
 
captex said:
isn't there a freeze on ch 51's hftv upgrades. i believe the fcc is trying to give ch 51's away to the wireless companies. why don't lin move kbvo from llano to round mountain (about 30 milies from llano) which is 37 or so miles from austin. llano is 66 miles from austin.
Click to expand...

Well, for one thing the only folks who could pick it up would be those between Anderson Lane and Ben White Blvd. Everyone north or south of there would have their antennas at a 90 degree angle to the stick! ;D
 
captex said:
isn't there a freeze on ch 51's hftv upgrades. i believe the fcc is trying to give ch 51's away to the wireless companies. why don't lin move kbvo from llano to round mountain (about 30 milies from llano) which is 37 or so miles from austin. llano is 66 miles from austin.
Click to expand...

There was a freeze, but it may have been lifted. KHFD/51 in Dallas just got a new CP to boost their power (with a new mask filter that cuts out-of-band emissions significantly).

BTW, with light bulbs the power refers to the electricity usage, not (in RF terms) the ERP. A 75-watt incandescent bulb emits only about 8-10% of that power (about 6-7.5 watts) as visible light. That's how a 20-watt CFL can be just as bright.

Still, for the top of the UHF spectrum, 75 watts is abysmal.
 
JHBrandt said:
There was a freeze, but it may have been lifted.
Click to expand...

It hasn't. KHFD justified the permit via the addition of the full-service filter by citing that it would decrease out-of-band emissions. This persuaded the FCC to grant it.

- Trip
 
captex said:
isn't there a freeze on ch 51's hftv upgrades. i believe the fcc is trying to give ch 51's away to the wireless companies. why don't lin move kbvo from llano to round mountain (about 30 milies from llano) which is 37 or so miles from austin. llano is 66 miles from austin.
Click to expand...

More thoughts on the light bulb analogy: what you're doing when reading is a bit different than receiving a TV transmission. You're reflecting some of the light from the bulb off another object (a printed page) and deriving the information from the relected signal.

A better analogy would be your TV screen. It's probably under one watt ERP, yet it's bright enough to be seen clearly, even despite the "interference" of a well-lit room. But you wouldn't want to try to read by it.

Of course, you probably aren't trying to watch your TV screen from several miles away ::)
 
I'll bet there's some legalities involved in using a digital subchannel to extend the range of a station beyond its normal coverage area.
 
fredcantu said:
I'll bet there's some legalities involved in using a digital subchannel to extend the range of a station beyond its normal coverage area.
Click to expand...

Not with the FCC. If the low-power and full-power stations are co-owned, it's strictly an editorial decision for the owner. If they're not co-owned then some kind of LMA is involved and there are some FCC considerations involved, but whether the subchannel extends the coverage or not really doesn't get into the question.
 
Ever since LIN changed KBVO to MyNet, I've wondered why they didn't simulcast it on the old HPN network of translators. Does anyone know why those continue to repeat KNVA?
 
KMRD said:
Ever since LIN changed KBVO to MyNet, I've wondered why they didn't simulcast it on the old HPN network of translators. Does anyone know why those continue to repeat KNVA?
Click to expand...

Again-- I suggest to you that the translators can't be used to extend the coverage of KBVO, so only those is the current footprint can repeat the signal.
 
fredcantu said:
KMRD said:
Ever since LIN changed KBVO to MyNet, I've wondered why they didn't simulcast it on the old HPN network of translators. Does anyone know why those continue to repeat KNVA?
Click to expand...

Again-- I suggest to you that the translators can't be used to extend the coverage of KBVO, so only those is the current footprint can repeat the signal.
Click to expand...

I don't understand why they couldn't - could you elaborate? Unless I'm misunderstanding your point, stations use translators to extend their coverage all the time.
 
Agreed with Dave.

Fred, I think you may be thinking of the regulations that apply to *FM* translators. It is indeed true that an FM translator owned by the commercial primary station it relays cannot be used to extend the footprint of that primary station. However, there is no such rule for TV translators.
 
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